MAD Magazine’s Classic 1965 KING KONG Parody Cover

MAD Magazine has had some classic covers since it was first conceived back in the 1950’s. But, one of the best was this classic 1965 parody of KING KONG. It was one of the most hilarious of the classic Alfred E. Neuman covers. In more recent years, Alfred E. Neuman has disappeared from the magazine’s cover, although he remains a permanent mascot of the magazine.

Although Alfred E. Neuman made his first appearance in the magazine back in 1954, the famous “What Me Worry” kid may actually date back to as old as 1908 or even older. The “Yellow Kid” from 1897 might well be the first inspiration for the modern day Alfred E. Neuman, although a 1908 image appears to be the true inspiration for the strange mascot kid who doesn’t appear to have a care in the world other than complete mischief.

Interestingly, it was in 1958, that Prince Charles reportedly sent an angry letter to MAD unhappy that the image resembled him, although that was never the intent of the image as the history proves that it certainly predates his birth by many years. And MAD won a lawsuit when some woman claimed to own the image, when MAD was able to prove in court that they actually copied the image from 1911, which probably also made the image a public domain image.

But, this classic 1965 image of Alfred E. Neuman atop the Empire State Building is perhaps one of the greatest MAD Magazine covers ever. Alfred E. Neuman is part of the culture, and has been the cover boy on most of the 514 issues of the classic lone surviving mass American parody and satire magazine.